Locking means for gear-shifting levers



April 15 1924.

V v 7 1,490,741 E. v. HILLBURG LOCKING MEANS FOR GEAR SHIFTING LEVERS.

Filed Nov. 1-3 1920 2 Patented Apr. 15, 1924.

ELMZER V. HILLBURG, OF MCKEES ROCKS, PENNSYLVANIA.

LOCKING IKEEANS FOR GEAR-SHIFTING LEVERS.

Application filed November 13, 1920. Serial No; 423,938.

1 '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Emma V. HILLBURG, a citizen of the United States, residing at McKees Rocks, in the county of l-iilegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locking Means for Gear-Shifting Levers, of which the tollowing'is a specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to means for locking automobiles, and particularly that class of locksv wherein the gear shifting lever is locked from operative engagement with the gears. v

The general object of my invention is to provide a very simple lock of this character which may be cheaply made, which may be readily installed, and which is thoroughly effective in practice.

A further object is to provide a look of this character which may be adapted to many different makes of cars, and wherein the gear shifting lever is provided with a locking section forming a part of the lever, which in one position operatively connects the lever with the yokes oithe gear shifting rods, and which in another position locks these yokes so that the gear shifting rods are held from any movement.

A further object in this connection is to so mount this shiftable section in the handle section of the lever that the shiftable section, when in its locking position, isdis posed so that no means can be used for prying up the shii'table section out of its locking position, and whereby no point is presented to break the lock or disengage the shiftable section from its operative and locking position.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view oi a gear locking and operating lever constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary section on the line 22ot Figure 1;

F igure 3 is. a section on the line of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical section of the upper portion of the lever body showing the locking se :tion depressed;

Figure 6 is a sectional view on the line i 66 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 7 is a sectional view on the line 7-7 of Figure 1 looking toward the yokes;

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that the gear shifting lever 10 is of usual or conventional form. This gear shifting lever has a relatively straight body portion and a handle portion 11, this handle portion in the'embodiment illustrated extending upward at an inclination to the body portion, but the handle portion might extend straight upward in line with the body portion, it being sufiicient that the handle portion be off-set with relation to the body portion. The body portion of the gear shifting lever is longitudinally bored, the lower portion of this bore being ofincreased diameter, as at 12, and the upper portion 01": the bore at its upper end being formed to provide a relatively deep recess 18. Operating within this'bore is the shiftable or looking section 14. The lower portion of this section 14 has a diameter equal to the enlarged diameter of the bore, the upper portion being reduced to fit the upper portion of the bore, thereby providing a shoulder 15 which normally bears against the shoulder 12. The upper end of this rod or section 14 is formedwith a head 16, while the lower extremity of this rod or section 14 is formed toprovide a globular head 17 and above this globular head and spaced therefrom is a portion 18 which is rectangu lar in cross section. The rod 14 between the shoulder 15 and the head '16 at two points is formed with ratchet recesses 19 and 20.

Surrounding the upper end of the section 14 is a coiled compression spring 21, which at its upper end bears against the under side of the head 16 and which at its lowerend bears against the bottom of the recess 13. This spring urges the section 14 to a raised positiomand'in this position the globularlhead' 17 is disposed between the two yokes 22 and 23 which are connected to the usualgear shifting rods 24. These yokes 22 and 23 and the rods 24 are those ordinarily found on automobiles for the purpose of shifting the gears. The gear shifting lever is mounted in the usual manner upon a ball 25 which is shown as having a central passage for the passage of the body of the lever and having the lever pinned thereto, this ball 25 resting in the the opening in the wall of the recess and prevent any possible removal of this pin. Thus it is impossible to remove the lock and impossible to remove the bell so as to detach the lever from its engagement with the gears. It is pointed out that in this con struction the lever ot' the locking section or plunger is disposed in such position that it will not be accidentally shifted while the locking lever is being manipulateiil. In other words, it is not disposed adjacent the hand engaging end ofthe handle portion 11 of the lever but is disposed a considerable distance below this hand engaging end where it is entirely out of the way and, as before remarked, in such position as to render it impossible to "operate it accidentally. This isof considerable advantage, inasmuch as if the locking section had its head 16 disposed at the handle end of the lever, the locking section might be shifted just as it was attempted to shift the gears and the gears would thus be either broken oii or a serious accident might occur from a failure to shift gears at the proper moment by reason of the gears being locked. Furthermore, by putting the locking section low down upon the lockinglever, the locking lever is made stronger than it otherwise would be.

It is to avoidthe chance of locking the gears when attempting toshitt the gears that I have made the locking lever in two sections, only one of which is depressible, this section being so disposed that it cannot be accidentally shifted when the lever is being manipulated. p

l/Vhile I have illustrated one particular form of my invention which is particularly adapted to certain types of cars, it will be understood that the construction might be modified to suit other types of cars without departing in any way from the spirit of the invention.

I claim 1. A gear shifting lever for automobiles comprising a section mounted for swinging, gear-selecting and gear-shifting movement, a second section slidingly mounted on the first named section for longitudinal movement and extending below it and having upon it a gear-yoke operating head and a gear-yoke locking head, said heads being longitudinally separated and hey actuated means for locking the sliding section with its gear-yoke locking head in operative position.

2. A gear shifting lever for automobiles comprising ,a section mounted for swinging, geanselecting and shifting movement, a second section slidingly mounted within the first named section for longitudinal movement and extending below it and having a gear-yokeoperating head and a gear yoke locking head, said heads being longitudinally separated the last named head he ing rectangular, and means carried by the first named section for locking the sliding section with its gear-yoke locking head in operative position.

3. A gear shifting lever for automobiles comprising a body section mounted for swinging, gear-selecting and gear-shitting movement, said body section having a bore extending longitudinally through it from its lower end, the bore opening at its upper end below the upper eatreinity of the body section, a second section slidingly mounted in said bore for longitudina movement and extendin below the bod section and ha vineb J D at its lower enda gear-yoke operating head and a gear-yoke iocking head, said heads being longitudinally separated a spring normally urging the second named section intoa position with its gear-yoke operating head in operative position, and key actuated means carried upon the bot y section for locking the sliding section with its gear-yoke locking head in operative position.

heads being longitudinally separated, a

spring normally urging the second named section into a position with its gear-yoke operating head in operative position, a lock casing carried upon the body section, the body section being recessed to receive said casing, a pawl disposed in the recess, the second named section having a notch to receive said pawl when the second named section is depressed with its gear-yoke locking head in operative position, and key actuated looking means carried in the lock casing for actuating said pawl.

5. A shifting lever for automobiles comprising a body section mounted for swinging, gear-selecting and gearshitting movement. said body section having a bore extending longitudinally through it from its lower end, the bore opening at its upper end below the upper extremity of the body section a second section slidingly mounted in said bore tor longitudinal movement and extending below the body section and having a its lower end gear-yoke operating head and a gear-yoke locking head, said heads being longitudinally separated a spring normally urging the second named section into a position with its gear-yoke operating head in operative position, lock casing carried upon the body section, the

' its ends tion and hm o s body sccti casing,- the i'ecv on now-i disposeii in section in pawl yoke ie V this b tion, a lock cs, iii the body sec;ion, eboii'el 1n the loci; casing.

tueteo. pawl cone-ti t :-;eeond naniea section the second; named section is in raised or uh-f1 ai'essed positions.

lie

swingii body being 0 pofiion v the bocfl s ing recess in tesseciiin exci'emity of the bore end section dis-posed Wi first named section 9 V ment and having its upper diameter than its lower against the head and urging e 7 tion npwarcLthe second named S6Ct.LO11.i1&Y- 111g; notches in lts sidefuce, electing-mem- J H 1 1 oer shin-abl inounueo within the LQCLK casseci to receive said j bell-shaped L e lever for shifting aid ing ineinbei' resting in sai .in the iongituiiineliy exten 1 e i and some ins "locking lies:

a iry 11c? the body 1 "Si- 1 Y i snimn llliO U3. om, U1. she ,iocc nrgingsani seconci named section with i'eiaiioi to Vthe booy section carried upon t over the member 2121C therefor 10. in an out with a support senii-spnerical socket; and opposeo gee comprising a body section having 11 socket, the body section having a no dle at its upper end and being f0 neci with a iongitudineiiy extending bob inte Withbore of the and noiinlii oroj e'cting T? end, the lower first named section beyond said. sore at its up:

Ody section endf Ir-Lending over the support a e socket therein, said bell-shaped housing ng yokes of 'ioonier sopporcy en of the se end. name seotionjbeingfoiined with o giobnia-r yoke engsging heed and above this lead with a rectangular yokeiocking neecii, said. seconc named sectiebeing provided with notches in its side a .beil-shap'ed housing carried" n refoi and over the said having a collar at its upper end-,- a collar 7 immediately surrounding the body member opposite the collar on the be l-shaped housingn said body member being formed with up or and lower annular flanges bearing against the upper and lower faces of the end named lower collar and pins extendthrough the collars and into said body on one of said pins projecting through said body section, and the second named "on having a groove in which said pin fects,

. in an automobile, the combination h a pair oi. gear-shitting yolces, of a gearshi'tting lever con'iprising a body section, a support upon which said body section is mounted for swinging movement in a plurality of directions, 2. second section slidably mounted in the first named section tor rectilinear movement and extending below the first named section and having on its lower extremity a glolnilar yoke-engag ing head and above this head having a rectangular yoke-locking head, a spring urging the second named section upward to bring its globular head opposite said yokes, and hey actuated means for locking the second named section with its yoke-locking head opposite said yokes.

12. gear shitting lever for automobiles including a body member mounted for gear shitting movement and having a handle end, a rectilinearly movable gear-yoke engaging member mounted within the body member for longitudinal movement and having its upper end normally projecting from and beyond the body from below the handle end thereof, the lower end of the gear-yoke engaging member having thereon a gear-yoke operating head and a gear-yoke locking head, said heads being longitudinally separated and means carried by the body member and coacting with and locking the gearyoke engaging member with its operating head in engagement with the gear-yoke or its locking head in engagement with the gear-yoke.

13. A gear shifting lever for automobiles comprising a section mounted for swinging gear selecting and gear shifting movement and having a handle, a second section longitudinally slidable onthe first named section and extending below it and having upon it a g6tll.'- Ol 6 operating head and a gear-yoke locking head, said heads being longitudinally spaced from each other and means for locking the sliding section with its gearyolre locking head in operative position.

14. A gear shifting lever for automobiles comprising a section mounted for swinging selecting and, gear shifting movement, a second section longitudinally slidable on the first named section and extending below it and having upon it a gear-yoke operating head and a gear-yoke locking head, and a releasable latch adapted to hold the second named section from upward movement when either the operating head or the locking head is in engagement with the yoke.

15. A gear shifting lever for automobiles.

having thereon a gear-yoke operating head and a gear-yoke locking head, and means for shifting either one of said heads into operative position with relation to a gear-yoke.

In testimony whereof I hereunto atlix my signature.

ELMER V. HILLBURG. 

